tv MSNBC News Live MSNBC September 11, 2010 12:00pm-1:00pm EDT
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organization, he said we are completely shocked. it's unbelievable. we completely condemn this very dangerous attack and i convey m condolences to the american people torks the americ, people, to the american president and to the american administration not only in my name b on behalf of the palestinian people. >> this comes on a day in which obviously there has ban steady deterioration of the situation in the middle east but son perez was to meet today with yasser arafat on the west bank. there has been some criticism of the bush administration for not getting more involved in the peacemaking efforts in the middle east in the past few weeks from within the republican party as well. >> because it has gotten increasingly volatile. >> there's ban steady escalation of violence, incursions by israelis into palestinian towns, and declaring martial law and then pulling back andne everyon thought that the bomb was ticking in the middle east.
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no one expected anything of these kinds of consequences to be visited upon ts country in this horrific way that we have been witnessed to today. it is one more example as we have been saying this mornin g f events in far off places that have such an enormous impact here because the united states is in the eyes of so many people who are opposed to our system of government and our alliances, the devil incarnate, and today this is a very sophisticated, very cold-blooded, very widespread attack carried out with the most chilling kind of efficiency on several of the great nerve centers of our system of government and our way of life.
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hello everyone. i'm alex witt live at minnesota headquarters in new york. you've been watching coverage of the 9/11 terror attack in 2001 as it happened. it is now nine years later and throughout this morning memorials have taken place in new york, pennsylvania, and at the pentagon. these are live pictures from gr zero in lower manhattan. earlier friends and family who lost loved ones in the attas gathered at ground zero, new york city, honoring those who died on that tragic day remembering ceremonies in new york including the reading of the names of all of those who lost their lives at the world trade center location. vice president biden attended the service in lower manhattan. >> we come not to mourn but to remember and rebuild.
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>> nbc's michelle franzen is live at ground zero in new york. good morning or now good afternoon, michelle. i understand we spoke this morning before the ceremony and you talked about the scene d it change much in the last three hours since we spoke? >> reporter: certainly the ceremony is still going on, the reading of the mes and a lot of people filtering in and around ground zero here, some family mbers, some tourists, some firefighters and first responders. certainly the e vents of 9/11 have forever changed the nation and policy and spark controversy but this morning the raw emotions and pain are still evident from nine years ago on that day as the nation paused to pay tribute to the lives lost. today, nine years after terrorists struck , the focus returned to remembering the victims. ceremonies in new york, virginia, and pennsylvania are paying tribute to the 2,752
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victims killed when terrorists hijacked four commercial planes and attacked the u.s. lower man families gathered at zuccotti park adjacent to ground zero. >> carl francis. >> chael a. -- >> reporter: as has now become tradition the names of victims were read one by one. the pain and emotions of that day still difficult to revisit nine years later. four moments of silence marked the times each plane hit and each tower fell. vice preside joe biden and his wife dr. jill biden attended the fremony, along with city and state leaders and first responders. and again,in ceremonies continu here in new york and will throughout the day along side some of those rallies that will also be protesting the islamic center.
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tonight, alex, a tribute in light returns, another tradition. two beams of light illuminating the sky and symbolizing where towers once stood. >> a wonderful traditn that is ry poignant. many people look forward to it every year. as is the peeling of the bells behind you trthere. that is trinity churchr, right? >> trinity church behind us, yes. still standing nine years later as it was after the 9/11 attacks. >> all right. michelle franzen, thank you so much. in the washington, d.c. area president obama this morning laying a wreath at the pentagon where 184 people were killed nine years ago today. on this anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks the president worked to draw a clear line between friend and foe. >> they may seek to spark conflict between different faiths but as americans we are not and never will be at war with islam. it was not a religion that attacked us that september day. it was al qaeda, the sorry band of men which perverts religion.
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>> nbc's mike viqueira is live at the white house for us. good saturday afternoon you to, mike. >> hello alex. >> that is a point the white house has been stressing lately. >> reporter: absolutely. time and time again over the last few days. i was at a press conference yesterday and at the end of the conference the president was asked about the mosque controversy and what was happening in florida with the pastor and his plans for the koran. the president spoke very el oquently and very forcefully and made some of those same points as he did this morning, alex, in his internet and radio address. of course, it was nine years ago today when george w. bush was the president. he was visiting a school in sarasota, florida, on long boat. we're all familiar with what happened at that moment. his chief of staff andrew card whispered in his ear and the president made a statement. he does have a statement today as well. he says, on september 11, 2001, americans awoke to evil on our showers. on this solemn day of remembrance, laura and i hold the victims and their families
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in our thoughts and prayers. we recall many acts of heroism on that day and we honor those who worked tirelessly to prevent another attac may god bless our great country and those who defend her. and speaking of acts of heroism and speaking of former first lady laura bush, she joined the current first lady, michelle obama, in shanksville, pennsylvania in a very moving ceremony,alex, where both women spoke to the bravery and the healing that has gone on and everything that that memorial there encompasses. >> and you talk about the emotion of that ceremony and, clearly, our first lady at points almost seemed overwhelmed. when you think about the poin yens poiniency of that place. >> she did and t way she talked about the gash of the earth that opened up as a result of the heroic individuals who perished, the passengers aboar the plane. we all know the story. they had spoken to loved ones and knew what was going to happen. they took matters into their own hands. michelle obama referred to that and talked about how the space
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had grown over and that it -- and everything there is -- the earth is healed and it was a sim -- a symbol, metaphor if you will. >> thank you very much. we'll get to more of that right now, everyone. you'll also hear more of the president's comments at the pentagon coming up in its entirety. we'll air th speech at the bottom of the hour. as mike was mentioning the first lady attended the memorial service in shanksville, pennsylvania this morning along with our former first lady laura bush. the ceremony was there to honor the passengers and crew of united airlines flight 93. that flight was enroute from newark, new jersey to san francisco when the hijackers seized control of the plane. but the passengers and the crew fought back and theer hijackers responded by crashing that plane about 60 miles southwest of pittsburgh. >> they called the people they loved, many of them giving comfort instead of seeking it, explaining they were taking actionnd that everything would be okay. and then they rose as one.
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they acted as one. and together they changed history's course. >> one passenger called his wife and said, i know we're all going to die. there's three of us who are going to do something alobout i. i love you, honey. and we know that in the midst of their fear they were calmed by their faith. >> the service took place at a temporary memorial near that crash psite. a permanent memorial is now under constructi and the first phase is expected to be completed for the tenth anniversary of the attacks next year. back at ground zero, we heard many heart breang personal stories today. thousands gathered there to pay tribute and to remember. family members read the names of all 2,752 victims and shared a personales message. >> my father, firefighter, robert james crawford, battalion
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1, we miss you. we love you, and life has not been the same. >> missed dearly every day by your son, your wife, your mother, your brothers, your sisters, everybody. we miss you dearly. >> my son, my hero in heaven, fire lieutenant david halderman. i love you forever, david. >> you had an extremely positive effect on so many young lives as a volunteer. your niece was named after you, ruben yangelica. god bless you always. and, america, we can never forget. >> peter brennan was a rescue firefighter who lost his life in new york city nine years ago today. and i'm joined now live by his sister, nancy brennan. good to see you. thank you for joining us here on this special day. >> thank you, alex. >> so your brother was a rescue firefighter and your family has been told that he died in the
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south tower. tell me what you know about that day. >> well, alex, that day i was teaching school and all of a sudden we heard on the news that the world trade center had been hit and our thoughts went crazy obviously but the entire day i was sure that he would be found in one of those air pockets that everyone talked about. everyone talked about the air pockets for days. and i truly believed if anyone was going to make it through, it would be my brother. but as the minutes went and the hours went and the days went we realized we weren't going to have that. >> peter was just 30 years old. tell me about his life until then. had he always wanted to be a firefighter? was he proud of the work that he did? >> there was no one, i think, that ever wanted to be a fireman more than my brother. after he had died, one of the librarians from our elementary school actually came to us and showed us a book that was named
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"i want to be a "fireman when i grow up" and he had taken it out. inhose days we used to sign the books out and he -- she gave us that book and we saw how even from a small child he wanted to be a fireman. when he was 13 years old he joined the volunteer lakeland fire department andwe then wentn to the fire department where he got the medal of valor for saving three firemen's lives during a fire. he has always wanted to be a fireman. >> clearly a man with a lot of dignity and heart there as he certainly sacrificed his life for others and would be willing to do that. tell me about his family in addition to you that he left behind and how everyone is doing these nine years later. >> well, my mom is having a hard time. we lost our father this year, my father this year. so it's me, my mom, and it's -- this is the first year that my mother has actually been able to come to ground zero and make it here. i've come every year. and thankfully we have something to come to every year and be with other families to
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commemorate what happened obviously, a special connection we have to all the families and just being here with them helps even a little bit. >> nancy, i know it doesn't get any easier, the loss, but in terms of your ability to cope, as time passes, are you able to remember your brother more with smiles and laughter than tears? >> absolutely. i guess one way i get through is i just -- i have faith and i have faith in god and heaven and one day i will be meeting him, hopefully this life will be a short time and eternity will be forever and i know it'll just be one day that i'll see him and that's what basically gets me through every day. >> that is a wonderful strength to hold on to, nancy brennan poulis, thank you so much for joining us and our best wishes to you and your family on this day. >> thank you, alex. appreciate it. >> the city of new york will also honor those lost on september 11 tonight with a tribute in light, twin beams of light will shoot up from the
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footprints where the world trade center buildings stoodti illuminating the night sky over lower manhattan. we'll be right back with more of our coverage of 9/11 nine years later here on msnbc saturday. who have lactose intolerance, let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowof cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. theriginal lactose-free milk. and vitamin d of regular milk. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. ss i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion
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transportation safety board christopher hart was astonished by the devastation. >> there was a section of the pipe that was blown out of the hole and on to the street that reflects the enormity of the explosion that took place, the charred trees, area that was completely flattened, the melted, charred cars and houses that disappeared. it was just an amazing scene of destruction. >> the ntsb is investigating how that ruptured pipe had been maintained before the blikast. natural gas lines, like the one in san bruno, snaked beneath towns all across america. the florida pastor who once vowed to burn the koran in protest has apparently done a total about face. terry jones now says he won't burn the sacred muslim text, not today and not ever. >> we feel tha t god is telling us to stop and we also hope that with us making this first gesture not burning the koran we would hope that through that maybe that will open up a door
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to be able to talk to the imam about the ground zero mosque. >> nbc's mike taibbi is joining me live from ground zero near trinity church. is there any indication that talk could take place today or any other time? >> so far, alex, no indication whatsoever. i've sent e-mails out. i've made cell phone calls to a number of principals. no one has called back. what we are left with at this point on those two things, the statement you heard from pastor jones saying there will be no burning of korans or ever, that there is no quid pro quo involved in this. i won't burn the korans if the imam agrees to move the mosque near ground zero. that quid pro quo is gone and also means the leverage to force ameeting is also gone. even when pastor jones was saying that the plan to burn the koran was wasn't killed but only suspended he still had some leverage. hear what the imam said in hipa latepast prepared statement. i am prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing
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peace. a lot of people would argue that pastor jones is the last person who might be regarded as someone who is committed to pursuing peace yet he is in new york. he is still hoping for a meeting. no indication at this point that a meeting wll take place or is about to take place or has been agreed to any form whatsoever, alex. >> any detveails on the reverens travel plans back to gainseville, florida? he going to stick around and tr and broker a de or meeting? he heading back today? do we know? >> reporter: he will probably do what everyone else has done, make the calls and send e-mails to the contact numbers and addrses available for the imam and the imam's spokes people but if he doesn't get an answer at some point he'll go back home and his story will have ended presuming he doesn't go back to the notion of trying to burn any koran. that was his story. imagine how tense this day woull have been if that plan were in place. it would clearly have over shadowed the commemoration of 9/11 let's hope he sticks to his word this time about not burning a koran today or ever. many thanks.
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meanwhile amid the controversy on this 9/11 day from the florida pastor it tes a different take in tennessee. pastor steve stone put up this sign welcoming his new muslim neighbors as soon as he heard a mosque was in the rks. pastor stone says he has received hundreds of e-mails and voice messages in praise of his gesture. >> i think the message is that the best way to peace and is to people personally. we've gotten to know ss tthe pe across the street from us. in the beginning i didn't know anybody over there. i knew one muslim friend from the gym where i work out and we st begin to get to know those people and as we do then there is not a religion there anymore but actual human beings. >> pastor stone also says he is trying to put out the message to love your neighbor and since the memphis mosque is right next door to his church it was a no brainer, he says, to reach out and forge a bond. the pulse of the country when it comes to terrorism. it is no longer the number one
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a renewed spotlight on terrorism today as we mark the ninth anniversary of 9/11 but despite that focus, a new gallup poll shows just 1% of americs rank terror as the biggest problem facing the united states and that's down from 46% in the days following the 2001 attack. let's bring republican strategist and msnbc political analyst pat buchanan, also with us democratic strategist and msnbc contributor karen finney. it's wonderful to see you both. thanks for joining us in our extended broadcast here. >> good to be with you. pat, i'm curious what you think has changed in these nine years later. how do you see that? >> alex, i mean, we just -- i just watch many of these pictures we've been showing and it brought back all the grief and the horror and and the loss but what we had back then, it seems to me, was a real sense
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of a national unity in the face of an enormous wound upon our whole american family. and i'm afraid what you see today is a dispatience sipation unity and even manifested today if you will in these warring rallies on different sides of the issue. i think that's what happened. people have lost that sense of unity. as you pointed out with those numbers you just gave the fear of terrorism has diminished but th at is a good thing in this sense because it's reflective of the enormous success of the people who are defending us. >> pat, let me tell you that you are exactly echoing the sentiments of a pretty important piece in "the wall street journal" talking about a more divided 9/11ch anniversary whic quotes a widow, 9/11 widow in new jersey, who says, you know, she used to feel the sense of unity with the entire nation and now not at all, that there is so and are sive feeling
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you feeling that as well? >> absolutely. iived in manhattan during 9/11 and the compassion new yorkers showed one another in those days after if you saw someone on the street who clearly was grieving you would say, you would ask them how they wre doing. and just, that was part of the innational unity that i think w felt. and absolutely, i mean, if you look at the tone and tenor of the nationaldebate, look at the way the debate over the islamic cultural center near ground zero has evolve d and look at the wa when we were talking about immigration or repealing birth right out of the 14th amendment. some of those debates have gotten ver caustic and divisive and i don't think we can be surprised people are feeling less unified. if the national debate, if we let the conversation go to such extrem extremes. >> talking about how people felt and behaved and checking out if
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people were okay, i remember coming back from being at ground zero in the first week following and i would ride the train home and the conductor would refuse to take my train ticket because i had journalist sses and ground zero passes and probably looked exhausted and depleted as one would imagine and they wouldn't even take my train ticket. there was that sense of community that has long since res eided i believe. pat, why do you think it is that these couple issues haveth take root, the potential of a koran buofrning which is thankfully o according to the reverend right now. he says he is never going to do that. and the proposed islamic center d the controversy around that. why have these controversies been allowed to take hold? >> the controversies are rooted in the deepest beliefs of people. there is one side of the argument that says, look. we have a first amendment. all religions must be treated equally therefore it must be built. others are wired in to the reality that the 9/11 murderers came in with evil intent but they were all muslims and they
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said they were doing this in the name of their faith and we got americans fighting musliafms in afghanistan. al qaeda is our enemy. the taliban is our enemy. we got the groups in iraq our enemy. they are alice lal islamic. a lot of people do not differentiate the religion of our enemies from our memories and we are asked to do that and say islam as peaceful religion. a lot of people don't do that. i remember as a boy during world war ii. we were little kids and we hated the, quote, j aps, and had the cartoons and everything was about their beliefs and who they were. that is the reality of what happens in war time. that is what is happening now is many americans are identifying that religion, that faith with that massacre. >> you know, with regard to homeland security and that poll taken where only 1% of americans saw that as being the most pressing concern, is that because we are safer,we
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definitely feel safer, or is it because we have other things that are taking even greater precedence in our lives like jobs? >> it's probably, it's a combination of both. just in the same way that the key issue in the election coming up is really the economy because that is, and jobs, that is the most acute issue facingin peopl. in 2006 terrorism and the war in iraq was a more acute issue for us. so i think -- i hope it al reflects americans feel safer and recognize as pat pointed out the measures that have been taken by, you know, extraordinary men and women in uniform, in different branches of government, to keep us safe. let's hope that's part of it. but certainly i thk you can't under estimate that given how important the economy is and jobs, i mean, that's really top of mind for people right now and sort of their own financial security if you will, rather than sort of the broader national security. >> yeah. all right. well, pat buchanan and karen finney, i look forward to speaking with you both next hour. thanks so much. >> thank you. president obama honoring 9/11 victims and their families on this anniversary.
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you are going to hear his speech in its entirety from the pentagon next on msnbc saturday. i got into one of the bt schools in the country! [ both screaming ] i got into one of the most expensive schools in the country! [ male announcer ] when stress gives you heartburn with headache... alka-seltzer gives you relief fast. [ low male ] plop, plop. [ high male ] fizz, fizz. alka-seltzer gives you relief fast. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacte by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna beere until we make this right. [ male announcer ] take an italian masterpiece home. excuse me. buitoni? [ male announcer ] buitoni wild mushroom agnolotti. simple ingredients, artfully prepared.
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[ female announcer ] clinical skincare. neutrogena. #1 dermatologist recommended brand. a solemn ceremony at the pentagon this morning as president obama joined top military leaders for a memorial service to honor the victims of 9/11. that service paid tribute to the 184 people kied there extly nine years ago today. we now bring you the president's remarks in their entirety. >> secretary gates, admiral llen, arme forces, my fellow americans. most of all, to you, survivors who still carry the scars of tragedy and destruction, to the families who carry in your hearts the memory of the loved
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ones you lost here. for a nation, this is a day of remembrance. a day of reflection. and with god's grace a day of unityd renewal. we gather to remembe at this sacred hour on hallowed ground, places where we feel such grief and where our healing goes on. we gather here at the pentagon where the names of the los t ar forer etched in stone. we gather in a gentle pennsylvania field where a plane went down and a tower of voices will rise and echo through the ages we gather where the twin towers fell, a site where the work goes on soar that next year on the
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tenth anniversary the waters will flow in steady tribute to the nearly 3,000 innocent lives. on this day it's perhaps natural to focus on the images of that awful morning, ages seered into our souls. it is tempting to dwell on the final moments of the loved ones whose lives were taken so os cruelly, yet those memorials an your presence today remind us to remember the fullness of their ti on earth. they were fathers and mothers raising their families, brothers and sisters pursuing their dreams, sonsd and daughters, their whole lives before them. they were civilians and service members. some never saw the danger coming. others sawl the peril and rushe
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supave others. up those stair wells into the flames into the cockpit. they were white and black and brown, men and women and some children, made up of all races, many faiths. they were americans and people fromar corners of the world. they were snatched from us senselessly and much too soon. but theylived well and they live on in you. ne years have now passed. in that time you have shed more tears than weow will ever know d though it must seem as if some days the world has moved on to other things i say to you today that your loved ones endure in the heart of our nation now and
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forever. our remembrance today requires a certain flection as a nation and as individuals. we must ask ourselves how best to honor them. those who died. those who sacrificed. how do we preserve their legacy not on just this day but every day? we need not look far for our answer. the perpetrators of this evil act didn't simp attack america. they attacked the very idea of america, itself. all that we stand for and represent in the world. and so the highest honor we can pay tse we lost, indeed, our greatest weapon in this ongoing war is to do what our
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adversaries fear the most, to stay true to who we are as americans, to renew our sense of common purpose, to say that we define the character of our country. we will not let the acts of some small band of murderers wh slaughter the innocent and cower in caves distort who we are. they doubted our will but as americans we persevered. today in afghanistan and beyond we have gone on the offensive and struck major blows against al qaeda andit its allies. we will do what is necessary to protect our country. we honor all those who serve to keep us safe. they may seek to strike fear in us. but they are no match for our resilience. we do not seccumb to fear.
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nor will we squander the optimism that has always defined us as a people. on a day when others sought to destroy, we have chosen to build, wh a national day of service and remembrance that summons the inherent goodness of the american people. they may seek to exploit our freedoms but we will not sacrifice the liberties we cherish or hunker down behind walls of suspicion and mistrust. they may wish to drive us apart but we will not give in to their hatred and prejudice for scripture teaches us to get rid all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. they may seek to spark conflict between different faiths but as americans we are not and never
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will be at war with islam. it was not a religion that attacked us that september day. it was al qaeda, the sorry band of men which perverts religion. and just as we condemn intolerance and extremi abroad, so will we stay true to our traditions here at home as a diverse and tolerant nation. we champion the rights of every american, including the right to worship as one chooses. as service members and civilians from many faiths do just steps from here, at the very spot where the terrorists struck this building. those who attacked us sought to demoralize us, divide us, deprive us of the very unity, the very ideals that make america america. those qualities that have made us a beacon of fr
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eedom and hope to billions around the world. today we declare once more we will never handhem that victory. as americans, we will keep alive the virtues and values that make us who we are and who we must always be. for our cause is just, our spirit is strong, our resolve is unwaveri. like generations before us, let us come together today and all days to affirm certain inalienable rights, to affirm life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. on this day and the days to come, we choose to stay true to our best selves as one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
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this is how we choose to honor the fallen, your families, your friends, your fellow service members. this is how we will keep alive the legacy of these proud and patriotic americans. this is how we will prevail in this great test of our time. this is how we will preserve and protect the country that we love and pass it safer and stronger to future generations. may god bless you and your families and may god continue to bless the united states of america. >> the president earlier at the pentagon, of course, part of the commemoration ceremonies there at the pentagon this morning. here is a programming note. watch "meet the press" tomorrow. senior white house adviser david
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axelrod and former new york city mayor rudolph guiliani will be david gregory's guests. check your local listings. what was it like for president bush nine years ago today? we'll hear from the former head of the white house military office who was traveling with the president when the attacks happened here on msnbc saturday. [ female announcer ] it starts with you falli in love
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make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. theeis we have returned to this sacred site to join our hearts together with the names of those we loved and lost. >> new york city mayor michael bloomberg speaking this morning ring the memorial service at ground zero in lower manhattan. crowds gathered to remember their loved ones and read aloud the names of all those who died in the september 11 attacks nine years ago today. for many who survived the attacks or witnessed the events first hand the memories of tha day remain fresh in their minds. joining me now the former
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chairman of the national transportation safety board. mark was the head of the white house military office when the good afternoon. >> good afternoon, alex. >> so you were right there in florida with the president on september 11, 2001. what was that day like? walk us through your experience with the president. >> watching all your coverage this morning it brings back the teible memories of what happened when the two aircraft went into the world trade center and then later of course the aircraft going into the pentagon and then later that aircraft that went into shanksville. my job of course was to be the support officer of all of the military assets that are basically there to help the president. that included airforce one, marine one, the military aides that carry the satchel with the nuclear codes in it. camp david was part of my responsibility and the undisclosed locations as well.
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>> mark, at what point were you able to have clear, cognitive thought, and the full realizatioof what was going on? >> we had gotten the original call about a minute or two in the w motorcade before we arriv at the school. when i got that message the first thing that came through my mind was, wow, this is a small aircraft that hit, perhaps, the world trade center in clouds. but i immediately took that information, although it was an aircraft that hit theer world trade center to andy card whose the president's chief of staff. i said, andy, we've just gotten a message from the president's emergency operation center that an aircraft hit the world trade center. that is as much as i know but i want to make sure you understand and share that with the president. i went inside. the president went into the holding room after greeting the people at the school and then went right into the classroom to begin the process of the event.
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andy and i talked about it a little bit and i went to try to find a television et. and i found one of these audio-visual carts that i even remember back when i was a kid. it was one of these stainless steel type of carts that had a television set on it and i rolled it into the holding room and it had a cable so i bent down and plugged the ac into it and put the cable into the little cable patch there and we began to watch the coverage. what we continued to see were really the burning building and later we actually saw the aircraft, second aircraft, hit the second building. and andy recognized, we all recognized that the nation was under attack. >> we just saw part of that video today and it is absolutely shocking. give me an adjective or two to characterize it. what was it like then? >> i saw the president turn from the chief executive officer to the commander-in-chief right
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before my eyes. it was a disciplined, focused saenda that he needed to make sure that the country was fe and that he was going to find those who perpetrated this horrible deed. we were concerned about additional tacks. i remember on almost a daily or every other day bas we'd hear something that maybe an aircraft was coming. i remember that there was an allegation that there was a truck bomb near the white house or a big truck coming to the white house and i remember even the first night when we returned, well, the president was in the white house. he had to be removed from his bedroom and brought down to the shelter because there was a belief that an aircraft was coming to attack the white house again. it turned out to be one of the air force aircraft. >> my goodness. combatting terrorism is certainly a major part of the legacy of the bush administration. thank you so much. >> good to be with you today. well, cnstruction at the world trade center site in new york continues to move forward. here is a time lapsed view of the construction process so far.
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more than 2,000 construction workers are building the new building sky ward. plans include a museum, transit hub, and performing arts center. one of those towers is set to be 1776 feet tall and the 9/11 memorial is to open next year just in time for the tenth anniversary of the attacks. words alone aren't enough. our job is to listen and find ways to help workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. we'll keep restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund. i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. rheumatoid arthritis going? they're discovering the first self-injectable ra medicine you take just once a month. it's simponi™, and taken with methotrexate,
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not now, not ever is the latest pledge from florida pastor terry jones concerning his former on again off again plan to burn copies of the koran today. after igniting an international firestorm of criticismha pastor jones has decided to permanently cancel his scheduled torching of the holy book. >> we feel god is telling us to stop and we also hope wi us making this first gesture, not burning the koran, we would hope that through that maybe that will open up a door to be able
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to talk to the imam about the ground zero mosque. >> the washington bureau chief of al arabiya joins me now. good afternoon. >> thank you. >> i'd like your reaction to the news the pastor will not burn the koran. will that ease international tensions? >> i think it will ease interne,ational tension but we have to recognize, unfortunately, that this so-called past or led us all, te media, the politicians, the international reaction, and he got more than his 15 minutes of fame. he became infamous and he knew what he was doing from the beginning. i didn't think early on he would go ahead with it because he wanted to drag this charade until the 11th hour, getting all this international attention and diaboliqually as i said he made the linkage between theng dastardly act he was planning to do burning copies of the koran and the islamic centern new york. i think given the reaction in
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the arab world and muslim world and thisor story became the fro page story, first item on the television news. >> yeah. >> obviously the decision not to go ahead burning copies of the koran will be greeted with a sigh of relief in the arab and muslim world. >> this is one man and just as many in the u.s. purr receive this pastor as an extremist do most muslims not blame all americans for this sort of mentality? >> see, now we have the same problem many people in the arab and muslim world face since 9/11. they don't want their religion, their cultures to be demonized because of actions of a few and the arabs and muslims probably have more than their share of lunatics and fanatics and that's why this man and this planned action received tremendous coverage in this country as well as oversea it is incumbent on the media and the politicians to cover these things and deal with these
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era ofna nowadays in the globalization and instant communication with the responsibility of putting it in context. that is why we are all facing stthwis challenge in the last f days how to cover it but inbl context and responsibly because you don't want to inflame passions throughout the world we've seen it after abu ghraib and the cartoons of the prophet mohamed how the actions of a few people could lead to the deaths of others across the globe. >> it is a very fair point that you make there and i thank you for making it on this broadcast. washington bureau chief of al arabiya thank you for joining us. at the top of the hour the ceremonies held in new york, pennsylvania, and the pentagon as america marks 9/11, nine years later. this is msnbc. sophia launched her clothing company nasty gal at age 22 with
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